I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 110 Who is the Female Champion?

...

"Why haven't I seen you before? What's your name?"

Zhang Chun was just asking casually, really. In reality, having just emerged from her retreat, she felt incredibly powerful and didn't take anyone seriously, let alone Li Qingzhao, who was "plain-looking" but rather lovable and spiritual.

As a result, the next second, Zhang Chun was dumbfounded! Li Qingzhao replied casually: "I am Li Qingzhao, may I ask what your Majesty's name is?"

'Li Qingzhao? ! ! !'

'The most talented woman of all time, the beauty of the plane, Yi An, Li Qingzhao? ! ! !'

'No, how could Li Qingzhao be in the palace? Is someone targeting me? ! ! !'

Zhang Chun's heart did not calm down until she entered the examination hall. Although Li Qingzhao had explained that she was able to enter the palace because of the help of her master Su Shi, and that she entered the palace with more than a dozen other women recommended by the prime ministers.

'Calm down! Calm down! Su Shi was born in 1037 and Li Qingzhao was born in 1084, with an age difference of 47 years between the two. Judging from the time, the two were alive at the same time from 1084 to 1101. During this period, Li Qingzhao was still young, and Su Shi's official career was bumpy and he moved around. Although Li Qingzhao's father, Li Gefei, was Su Shi's student, Li Gefei was with Su Shi for a short time, and Su Shi served in other places in his later years, so he had few opportunities to meet Li Gefei. Therefore, the possibility of Li Qingzhao and Su Shi meeting is small. In addition, there is no mention of their meeting in their works and related historical materials. So, judging from the overall situation, Su Shi and Li Qingzhao should not have met.'

"Did we replace Zhao Ji with Zhao Ya, who called Su Shi back early, allowing these two people who had been connected but never had the chance to meet to actually meet, and then facilitated Su Shi's bringing Li Qingzhao into the palace to compete with me across time and space?"

Some believe that Su Shi suffered from heatstroke in 1101 while returning to Changzhou from Hainan due to the scorching weather, ultimately dying of heatstroke. Heatstroke is a severe form of heatstroke that can lead to multiple organ failure and even death. In this world, Zhao Ya summoned Su Shi back in winter, suggesting that he might have lived longer.

"Oh my god, has history really changed? If so, won't my advantage become smaller and smaller?"

"In other words, this time the reference is not only for the women in the harem, but also for many outsiders."
"No, this group of ministers must be trying to use this opportunity to insert people into Zhao Ya's harem. This is a continuation of the factional struggle. If this is true, the imperial examination will still be held among the women in the harem."

"Hmm... From a political perspective, we should keep these women. This way, Zhao Ya will be firmly tied to these ministers, and his throne will be basically secure. After all, marriage is a very reliable political alliance."

"Wait! Doesn't that mean that Li Qingzhao could also become Zhao Ya's concubine? ! ! ! "

"No way?!!! If that's the case, then we five time travelers are not the chosen ones, it's Zhao Ya who is the lucky one!!!"

"I wish I could switch places with Zhao Ya."

"Alas! Reincarnation is really a technical job."

"If you were born into the right family, you would be the most famous prostitute in history, the most talented woman in history, with three palaces, six courtyards, and seventy-two concubines, and three thousand beauties in the harem. Even time travelers would have to sleep with you! Zhao Ya, you are so fucking happy, I am jealous of you!!!"

It took a long time for Zhang Chun to calm down and open the test paper.

As soon as he saw the test question, Zhang Chun was delighted, "I guessed it right!"

Zhang Chun analyzed a long time ago that Zheng Xiansu did not rely on the palace examination to select talents for governing the country, but only wanted to use it to educate the concubines and palace ladies in the harem. Therefore, the scope of her questions would definitely not test the understanding and mastery of general Confucian classics, historical texts, literary works, etc. She would definitely ask questions from books that educate women, such as "Female Rules", "Female Precepts", "Female Training", "Inner Training", "Female Analects", "Daughter's Classic", and "Female Model Records".

This is also the common way of asking questions used by queens who rely on the imperial examinations to control the concubines and palace maids in the harem.

Therefore, in the past three months, Zhang Chun mainly read these works.

As it turned out, Zhang Chun made the right bet, as all the test questions were from these classics.

The first one is from "Rules for Women": "If small mistakes are not corrected, great evil will follow; if small virtues can be transformed, great virtue will be achieved."

Zhang Chun, an outstanding liberal arts graduate, is very good at writing this kind of "essay composition".

Zhang Chun immediately began writing, starting with the original text of "Female Rules", and meticulously analyzed the philosophy of "If small mistakes are not corrected, great evils will follow; if small virtues can be transformed, great virtues will be achieved", comparing it to small streams converging into rivers and seas, and dust particles accumulating into mountains, emphasizing the importance of self-cultivation, accumulating good and avoiding evil in daily life.

Afterwards, she cleverly combined this concept with the "respectful and cautious conduct, humble and self-restrained" in "The Rules for Women", explaining that as an imperial concubine, one should always be vigilant, not doing evil, no matter how small, and not refraining from doing good, no matter how small, so as to maintain the harmony and order of the palace and demonstrate the light of female virtue.

Zhang Chun's writing is not limited to theoretical exposition. She also cleverly incorporates the "four virtues" that women should possess in "Female Training" - women's virtue, women's speech, women's appearance, and women's work. By combining historical allusions with real reflections, she shows how these traditional virtues play a positive role in court life.

She wrote: "A woman's chastity is as immovable as a rock, stabilizing people's hearts; a woman's polite words are as gentle as jade, resolving disputes; a woman's beauty is not just about outward splendor, but also about reflecting a pure heart; a woman's diligence is not just about weaving and sewing, but also about diligently managing the household and assisting the king..."

After stopping writing, Zhang Chun became more and more satisfied with his masterpiece the more he looked at it.

When it came to the following poems and songs, Zhang Chun thought of his rival Li Qingzhao, and felt that ordinary people's poems might not be able to surpass Li Qingzhao's.

The key is that poetry needs to fit the artistic conception.

For example, if she were to compare Xin Qiji's poems with Li Qingzhao's, she would definitely be able to win, but Xin Qiji's poems were full of patriotism and heroism, which was not something that a little woman in the deep palace like her should show.

Thinking about it, Zhang Chun remembered the time when she and Zhao Ya had just met last year. Because he could not see Zhao Ya, he kept repeating a poem every day. Then he picked up his pen and wrote:
The red lotus root is fragrant and the jade remains in the autumn, and Luo Chang is relieved lightly, and he is alone on the orchid boat.Who will send the brocade book in the cloud?When the wild goose returns, the moon is full of the west building.

The flower is floating and the water flows by itself, a kind of lovesickness, two sorrows.There is no way to get rid of this feeling, so I lower my brows, but my heart.

After finishing writing, Zhang Chun's face turned red.

"I used such a big cheat, but in the end I still had to use other people's words to defeat them. Even if I win, it's not glorious, right?"

"How about changing it to Nalan Xingde's "Mulanhua Ling: If Life Could Only Be Like First Encounter"? No, no, if I use "Mulanhua Ling: If Life Could Only Be Like First Encounter", won't Zhao Ya have to think twice after reading it? If that happens, then I will lose more than I gain."

"Li Qingzhao's poems are still better. They also fit all the elements of this era. They won't seem too abrupt and thus arouse others' suspicion. Moreover, if Zhao Ya sees them, he will know my feelings for him. Hmm... it's perfect!"

……

Today, after finishing his business, Zhao Ya asked Zhang Dun and a group of ministers to stay and be judges with him. After that, he would hold a banquet for everyone to relax.

Quyan (a banquet) was a banquet held by the emperor to entertain close ministers, members of the imperial family, and others. Compared to formal banquets, Quyan was smaller in scale, simpler in etiquette, and more relaxed and harmonious in atmosphere. At the banquet, the emperor and the others might engage in poetry and play games to strengthen their relationships. It was also a way for the emperor to express his favor to his ministers.

There are many records about Quyan in the history of the Song Dynasty. The emperor would usually reward his subjects at the Quyan, discuss state governance with them, or share interesting stories in life.

Incidentally, the emperor who loved to hold music banquets the most in history was Zhao Ji. Zhao Ji had never held a music banquet since he ascended the throne. This time, he took advantage of the imperial examination to hold a music banquet and invited the prime minister and other ministers to participate, which was a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

Zhao Ya has invited me, who can refuse?

Besides, they all have close relatives who participated in the imperial examination, and they would definitely be willing to serve as judges.

To prevent cheating, the imperial examinations employed a system of obscuring names and transcribing the papers. Specifically, the names of candidates were sealed on the papers, preventing Zhao Ya and his colleagues from knowing the candidates' identities and thus preventing them from favoring others during the grading process. Furthermore, to prevent Zhao Ya and his colleagues from identifying candidates by their handwriting, the papers were re-transcribed by specialized transcribers and then reviewed by Zhao Ya and his colleagues to ensure fairness.

Zhao Ya and his group are large, and all the prime ministers and ministers are bigwigs in the cultural circle. Each of them can review hundreds of memorials a day. It only takes them an hour to thoroughly evaluate just a few dozen papers.

Zhao Ya and others are all very busy people.

Well, Zhao Ya is actually okay, not particularly busy.

But Zhang Dun and a group of ministers were really busy people with a lot of things to do every day.

They certainly couldn't afford to waste days on a group of women.

Therefore, Zhao Ya and others readily gave out the results of their selection, which are as follows:
First place: Zhang Chun.

Second place: Li Qingzhao.

Third place: Liu family.

In terms of poetry, Zhang Chun's "A Cut Plum Blossom: The Fragrance of Red Lotus Remains, the Jade Mat is Cold in Autumn" and Li Qingzhao's "Ru Meng Ling: Always Remember the Sunset at the Creek Pavilion" are tied. Even if Su Shi were to comment on them, he would not be able to tell which one is better.

Finally, Su Shi sighed: "Your Majesty, there are truly hidden dragons and crouching tigers in this harem!"

Zhang Chun won in the classics, history, philosophy and literature.

It has to be said that Li Qingzhao's understanding of women's virtues was far from satisfactory, and she was not even in the top ten.

However, Li Qingzhao's poems were so stunning that the examiners made an exception and raised her ranking to the top.

By the way, Zhang Chun's Classics, History, Philosophy and Miscellaneous Works was only ranked fifth.

The first place went to Liu. Her understanding and expression of women's virtues were so well received that everyone agreed that her collection of classics, history, and miscellaneous works should have taken first place. Her ci poetry was also quite good, so she was definitely ranked fifth or sixth.

Let’s put it this way, many people wanted to choose Liu as the first place in the written test.

However, the final decision lies in Zhao Ya's hands.

When Zhao Ya saw "A Cut Plum·The Fragrance of Red Lotus Fades and the Jade Mat in Autumn" and "Ru Meng Ling·Always Remember the Sunset at the Creek Pavilion" appear at the same time, he was completely stunned.

Even if Zhao Ya used his heels to guess, he could guess that one of the poems must have been "written" by Zhang Chun.

The question is, who wrote the other one?
"Could there be another time traveler?"

Zhao Ya took these two poems and made some indirect inquiries, and learned from Su Shi that Li Qingzhao had also come to join in the fun.

Zhao Ya finally felt relieved, "So there is no seventh time traveler."

Thinking of the efforts Zhang Chun had made during this period, Zhao Ya couldn't bear to hit her anymore. After all, she was his woman and one of his golden fingers. He couldn't let her efforts be disproportionate to her gains.

Therefore, Zhao Ya gave extremely high praise to "Yi Jian Mei: The fragrance of red lotus fades and the jade mat is lingering in autumn" and "Ru Meng Ling: Always remember the sunset at the creek pavilion".

Zhang Chun and Li Qingzhao stood out for their poetry.

But it's not over yet.

Because the imperial examinations in the palace not only tested cultural knowledge, but also court etiquette, needlework skills, and moral cultivation.

Court etiquette includes: etiquette norms and court rules.

The former is to examine in detail the various etiquette systems in the palace, such as the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects, the etiquette between the empress and concubines, the etiquette of sacrifice, etc., including details such as clothing, manners, and movement norms.

The latter is to understand the organizational structure of the palace, the functions of the institutions, the procedures and regulations of major ceremonies, etc.

Women's needlework skills: including embroidery, weaving and clothing making.

That is, they must be proficient in all kinds of embroidery stitches and textile techniques, be able to produce exquisite embroidery works and high-quality textiles, as well as master the skills of cutting and sewing clothes, be familiar with the styles, styles and production requirements of different court costumes, and be able to make costumes for court personnel that suit their status and occasion.

As for moral cultivation: it includes moral ethics and personality temperament.

That is, they examined the virtues advocated by Confucianism, such as filial piety, fraternal love, loyalty, trustworthiness, propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame, and paid attention to whether the candidate's character was gentle, dignified, steady, and elegant, and whether it could meet the court's requirements for the image of women, in order to create a harmonious court atmosphere.

After finishing the whole set of exams, Zhang Chun barely managed to secure third place (this was because Zhao Ya gave her a lot of leeway), Li Qingzhao fell directly out of the top ten, and the first female champion in the imperial examination was Liu.

Liu came from a humble background, and his father's name was "Liu Yanqing".

Later, based on the name of Liu's father, Zhang Chun speculated that she should be the third queen of Zhao Ji in history, Liu Mingda, who was posthumously named "Queen Mingda".

She also has another identity: the mother of Zhao Fujin, the most beautiful daughter of Emperor Maode of Zhao Ji in history...

……

(End of this chapter)